


wounds of the body, wounds of the heart

by aesphantasmal



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Eye Trauma, Kinda?, M/M, Other, Soulmate AU, canon typical Juno and Nureyev needing therapy, just kinda a bunch of disconnected thoughts, scars tw, this is very disorganized
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-16
Updated: 2020-03-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:07:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23163745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aesphantasmal/pseuds/aesphantasmal
Summary: Juno and Nureyev both have the scars of a thousand fights carved into their skin.
Relationships: Peter Nureyev/Juno Steel
Comments: 24
Kudos: 119





	wounds of the body, wounds of the heart

**Author's Note:**

> hello. it's been like a week since I have posted and this is just the same format as usual but worse.

A million scars lace Juno Steel's body. For all he knows, they're almost all his. Sometimes, Juno feels sorry for the poor bastard who has the marks of Juno's many, many mistakes etched into their skin.

-

A million scars lace Peter Nureyev's body. Not all of them are his, but some are, he knows that. Tokens of missteps he may not get away with repeating.

-

Juno knows the scar on his face is his. He remembers getting it — a fist to the face, blood being shaken off of a large crystal with sharp edges. There are blaster marks and knife slashes and burns and grazes and a mission different injuries on Juno's skin.

-

Nureyev knows some of his scars are the marks of a childhood spent on the streets of Brahma, but most days it's convenient to ignore that. The scars on his chest are the only ones he owns most of the tind. An unfortunate soulmate is easy cover for the scars of a life that Nureyev needs, sometimes, to hide. Sometimes he claims them as his own when he thinks they may be of use, but a master thief has very little use for scars.

-

Juno knew there was something about the man calling himself Rex Glass that set him on edge. It wasn't until after they escaped from Cecil's deathtrap that Juno worked out what was up. 

It was as Juno looked at his hands as he held the glass syringe, a trace of blood still in it, and saw a fresh scar on one of his hands. A scar that, as soon as he saw it, Juno knew was made with a plasma blade. He looked back at the syringe and sighed.

-

Nureyev had worked out this grumpy yet endearing detective must be his soulmate within minutes of their meeting. The scars running across his face were the exact same as the ones Nureyev had to work so hard to conceal, lest they become an identifying feature. The marks from the spikes on Cecil's fist only confirmed what he already knew.

-

Juno felt the kind of sense of irony that seemed to follow him everywhere he went. Whatever Rex or whatever his real name was was planning, it was probably going to end badly for Juno.

-

Nureyev knew he couldn't stay here. It wasn't the detective — even despite the conflict of interest with their professions, Nureyev could tell he was quite the lady, and he wouldn't mind getting to know him better. Still, he was not a man destined to be tied down to one place, and he had a feeling the detective wouldn't leave simply because Nureyev asked him to. Still, after this was over he could make his best attempts to keep the detective from harm. 

-

Some people claimed that your soulmate couldn't hurt you. Juno didn't believe that for a second, and he didn't trust that Nureyev wasn't banking on any false sense of security he may have. And even if Nureyev himself had no intention to harm Juno, he had brought him into a place with a number of people perfectly willing to harm both of them if they pissed them off, and, well, it wasn't as if they'd been treading lightly on that front.

-

Juno and Nureyev both have the scars of a thousand fights carved into their skin. And so far, they've survived every one of them. Nureyev keeps telling himself that as they approach the tomb, as it swallows them whole, as he reaches for Juno's hand and holds tight. 

"Don't give up on me. We'll make it through. I know we will."

Nureyev smiles at Juno, and Juno holds onto his hand for dear life.

-

Juno can see the scars of the torture that he didn't experience in the dim light from the hall. Many of his mistakes are etched into his skin, but this is different. It is a stark reminder of how he drags others down into dangers they do not deserve. He covers up the scars as he gets dressed and leaves. In the hallway light, he thinks Nureyev may have already covered his.

-

Nureyev can tell the detective is not doing well. He's getting more scars from things hitting him dead on rather than him getting out of the way for a while. Then there are no new scars at all. If Nureyev didn't have better things to do then worry about the soulmate who had made his feelings perfectly clear, the lack of any new injuries may have been more worrying.

-

Juno sees it in a split second. Identifying soulmates at a glance between them had been a useful skill as a private investigator, but it didn't take a professional to look between the scars Buddy carefully covered with her hair and the ones visible on the assassin's face and see the connection. (Juno's pretty sure if that happened to him, Nureyev would kick his ass.) Once they are reunited, Buddy holds Vespa close and Vespa kisses Buddy's scars and Juno definitely does not cry.

-

There's an itch behind Nureyev's eye.

He knows what it is. He may be a fool, but he's no idiot. Still, there is nothing he can do about it. So he pretends he can see just fine out of both eyes and tries his best to ignore the feeling clawing at the inside of his eyeball.

-

Juno thinks about Nureyev in his rare quiet moments, sometimes. The scars on his arms are an unwelcome reminder. He does not see any new ones, but he was never the best at noticing. He thinks about what he'd say to Nureyev if he saw him again.

-

While preparing for the Gilded Globe heist, Nureyev deliberates about his scars.

He has not told Buddy Aurinko that he and Juno are soulmates. He doesn't know what Juno has told her. His scars have been covered since he boarded the Carte Blanche - no, before then - since he realised Juno wasn't coming back, once he packed up and left Mars intending to never return. He does not look in the mirror as he covers them. He's had enough practice to not need to, not have to look upon the reminders of what had happened. Juno is here now, but he still does not look in the mirror until the scars are hidden.

After they finally talk, Nureyev traces the web of scars he and Juno share and kisses him and maybe it isn't perfect, not yet, but it feels right.

**Author's Note:**

> comment 🗡️


End file.
